sourcefire

Sourcefire buys Immunet for $21 million

Network security company Sourcefire is acquiring Immunet, a cloud-based anti-malware start-up, for $21 million in cash, the companies announced today.

The acquisition expands the cloud-based offerings for Sourcefire, creator of the open-source Snort intrusion detection technology.

Columbia, Md.-based Sourcefire said it will not lay off any of Immunet's full-time staff, which is based in Palo Alto, Calif.

Sourcefire paid $17 million at the closing of the deal and will pay $4 million during the next 18 months dependent on product delivery milestones, the companies said in a statement.

Immunet Chief Executive Oliver Friedrich co-founded SecurityFocus, which Symantec acquired … Read more

Open-source companies log impressive growth

Even as the global economy tanks, open-source companies continue to soar. A range of open-source companies reported sales and community growth this past week, including:

Funambol: As announced on its Web site, Funambol's mobile open-source community has grown 2,000 percent, downloads are up 34 percent, and the number of active Funambol servers is up 42 percent in the past three months alone. Actuate: While business intelligence vendor Actuate's overall license revenues grew 15 percent last quarter, its BIRT (i.e., open source) revenue grew 32 percent. Linux Desktop: While there's no one company behind Linux for … Read more

Barracuda Networks: an unsung hero of open source and a new member of Open Invention Network

I spent some time last week talking with Dean Drako, CEO of Barracuda Networks. I'd wanted to talk with Dean for some time, as I've been an admirer of the company for many years. Barracuda recognized the strength of open source, and capitalized on it, well before most people were willing to even give open source a chance.

The conversation was particularly interesting because of Barracuda's announced intention to join the Open Invention Network, as well as some research it had done on perceived customer value for open source.

I started by asking Dean, Why do you care about open source?… Read more

Open-source M&A market keeps going with Sourcefire buying ClamAV

Sourcefire just announced its acquisition of ClamAV. ClamAV is by most estimates the most commonly used open-source antivirus product on this planet, with over 10 million downloads (and a significant percentage). Great, great move by Sourcefire.

There's just no end in sight of this open-source M&A market, friends, and this time it was one open-source project buying another. I like that. Keep it in the family.

Nick Selby over at The 451 Group has a great analysis. He writes:… Read more